那么,回过头来,正视我们在现实中的处境。看看最近的新闻头条:《外交政策》杂志上的,“中国的受害者情节:为何中国领导人如此猜忌美国”或者法新社的财经杂志《彭博商业周刊》上说,“没错,中国军队正在测探你。”
And it’s such a great one that I just want to show you the cover of the magazine. Yes. Be very afraid! Ok, is it shown to you right? OK. So there’s actually an extremely high amount of negativity and fear and anxiety about China, sinophobia, that I think is not just misinformed, but also misleading and ultimately dangerous, very dangerous.
这个特别逗,我来给你们展示一下这封面。是的,特别恐慌有木有!方向那对的吧,嗯,对的。当今对于中国有太多的负面东西。恐华情绪很严重。我觉得这种现象不仅是一种误传同时也是一种误导。这是很可怕的,超级可怕。
And what about how westerners are viewed by Chinese? Well, we have terms for westerners. The most common of which are gweilo in Cantonese, which means “the old devil”, lao wai, meaning the old outsider in mandarin, ang moh, which means the “red hairy one” in Taiwanese. The list goes on and on. So are these roommates headed for a best friend relationship? I think we need a little help. And as China rises to be global power, I think it is more important than ever for us to be discerning about what we believe, because after all, I think that’s the purpose of higher education.
那么,中国人又是如何看待西方的呢?我们对西方人的称呼五花八门。大家熟知的有:香港人叫他们“鬼佬”,字面上就是“老妖”。大陆人叫他们老外,字面上就是“蛮夷”。还有台湾人叫他们“红毛”。还真说不完呢。这看上去像是能发展成一段最佳友谊的舍友关系吗?我认为我们得治治病。随着中国实力不断强大,看清楚应该相信什么这一点空前重要。因为,归根结底,这就是高等教育的目的。